'house in the forest' by florian busch architects is a remote retreat in the woods of hokkaido

florian busch architects has completed ‘house in the forest’, an elevated timber residence, that as its name suggests, is immersed in the woodland of hokkaido, japan. located in close proximity to the niseko ski resort, the remote dwelling is sited on three hectares of barely touched forest. the client, a large family, tasked the architects with designing a retreat that allowed them to spend time with each other and the natural landscape. ‘the house in the forest is not about a fixed form but an ever-changing dialogue with the forest,’ explain the architects.

all images courtesy of florian busch architects

the site is almost a perfect square with 160-meter-long edges and filled with tall pine trees. thanks to a mound, the plot remains secluded with a small rural road providing the only access to the site. florian busch architects discovered a clearing in the woods, but, instead of positioning the building in the middle of the clearing, the team decided to place the structure between the trees at the edge to the clearing.

the house itself extends horizontally, with the end of each ‘branch’ open to the surrounding woodland — immersing occupants in nature. ‘while the protection of the inside separates us physically from the experience of the forest, the focus and scale of the windows to the forest intensifies it — we are sitting in the forest,’ says florian busch architects. ‘in the house’s central spine, this focus of selection is replaced by a multi-faceted instantaneity. as a multitude of views of the forest around us are filling the space, the original experience inside the forest is always present. ‘

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project info:

name: house in the forest
location: rankoshi, hokkaido, japan
dates: 2017-2020
status: completed
type: residential
structure: timber frame on raised reinforced concrete slab
GFA: 230 sqm

team —
FBA: florian busch, sachiko miyazaki, mayo shigemura, luca marulli, tenesha caton, max duval
structural engineering: OAK (masato araya, takayuki fujimoto)
contractor: wakisaka corporation